THE MONTHLY BCLLETIN. 61 



VARIETIES. 



The Lob Ingir, which is the great commercial fig of Asia Minor, fills 

 about all requirements of a first class fruit. It is in every respect 

 superior to any other in cultivation. I am aware that the long estab- 

 lished White Adriatic is still being planted to some extent, but with 

 the mistaken idea that it is a more prolific bearer than the Smyrna. 

 The Smyrna far surpasses it in size, sugar content and flavor, while in 

 yield, if properly treated, it is not inferior to the Adriatic. The 

 Smyrna crop depends directly upon the number of Capri-figs applied. 

 If sufficient Blastophaga infested Capri-figs are supplied to thoroughly 

 pollinate the young Smyrna crop, the yield Avill fully equal, if not 

 exceed, the most prolific Adriatic. In this connection, I may mention 

 that a tyro in fig growing at Clovis last fall asked me if I could account 

 for the small yield of his six-year-old Smyrna trees. He said : " T 

 hung on them twice as many Capri-figs this season as last and still the 

 crop was small." I asked him how many Capri-figs he used. I was 

 amused when he innocently replied: "Last year I hung one fig in each 

 tree, and this year two. ' ' Had he used ten or twelve Capri-figs to each 

 tree instead of two, the result would have been more satisfactory. 



Adriatic figs sell for about one half the price of Smyrna — three 

 cents for the former and six for the latter. Looking a little into the 

 future, one thing is certain — that the importation of Turkish figs into 

 the United States can never be stopped by the production of Adriatic. 

 The shipment to the eastern states of these sulphur-soured Adriatics is 

 about as damaging to the reputation of California figs as the shipment 

 of unripe grapes to the reputation of our table grapes. Some of the 

 most experienced fig growers in the state are now grafting over their 

 Adriatics to Smyrna. Henry Markarian, I understand, has forty 

 acres of Smj^rnas and the same area of Adriatics and is grafting the 

 latter over to Smyrnas. He can tell you the reason for making the 

 change. 



SPLITTING OF SMYRNA FIGS. 



One of the defects of the Lob Ingir fig, though not a very serious 

 one, is that of splitting just before maturity. This trouble is not 

 confined to the Smyrna variety, but is even w^orse in the Adriatic. It 

 is more prevalent some years than others. I am satisfied that the 

 cause is partly climatic and frequently due to injudicious irrigation. 

 By some, the cause is attributed to over pollination, thus causing too 

 great a production of seeds and consequent pressure from over internal 

 development. I have grave doubts as to this being the principal cause 

 for the reason that some of the seedling Smj^rna trees in the Maslin 

 orchard at Loomis always split, while others equally surrounded by 

 Capri trees and consequently by swarms of Blastophaga never split, 

 and the Adriatic which is seldom pollinated, in many localities splits 

 worse than the Smyrna. At the Stanford University farm at Vina is 

 a certain Smyrna strain, grown from cuttings imported by the writer 

 from Asia Minor in 1882, which for a nvimber of years has not shown 

 a single split fig, while the fruit on adjoining trees in the same row on 

 each side, has split badly. Therefore the trouble may be avoided by 

 planting non-splitting varieties. In the opinion of the writer, a con- 

 spicuous cause of splitting is a sudden change from dry to damp 

 weather, not necessarily rain, while another is the aDolication of irriga- 



